Highly praised, much criticized: The shameful list of “30 under 30”

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30 people under the age of 30 who have achieved outstanding achievements in business, science, sports, art or culture: This is the basis of the “30 under 30” list that Forbes has presented every year since 2011.

A place in the list documents that this person has “arrived.” Sometimes these are already well-known characters, sometimes they are obscure newcomers. The situation is the same in Switzerland’s “30 under 30” list.

But this trophy’s glossy paint isn’t completely scratch-free. Various celebrity members of the selected list have made extremely negative headlines recently.

Many young stars were scammers

For example, Sam Bankman-Fried (31), who was included in the “30 under 30” list in 2021. A year ago, the spectacular bankruptcy of crypto platform FTX followed. Bankman-Fried has since been found guilty of various charges.

His ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison (30), who was also involved in the FTX scandal, was on the Forbes list in 2022. She saved her life by becoming a key witness against Bankman-Fried.

Forbes himself has now compiled a “Hall of Shame” where ten formerly distinguished individuals can be found. Besides Bankman-Fried and Ellison, Martin Shkreli (40) is also there. The hedge fund manager, who was also chairman of Baar ZG-based Turing Pharmaceuticals AG until the end of 2015, has been in prison for the last seven years on charges of fraud related to overpriced drugs.

What the ten people have in common is that they are all involved in fraudulent activities.

There are more than 10 scammers

But there are other examples. For example, the case of Trevor Milton (41), who wanted to build an electric truck with Nikola Motor Company and became a billionaire with an IPO. As a result, he was named to Forbes’ “12 under 40” list, honoring the youngest billionaires under 40.

The only thing is, such a truck was never made. Milton has now also been found guilty of fraud.

And now there is the case of Elizabeth Holmes, 39, the former chief executive of the bankrupt and liquidated laboratory company Theranos. She was never on the Forbes list, but she was the star guest of Forbes’ “30 Under Summit” event in 2015. She even appeared on the front page of Forbes and was included in Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2015. World “.

He has since been sentenced to eleven years in prison for defrauding investors and customers.

Swiss award winners are clean

So far, no such apparent cases have been reported among Swiss members of the “30 Under 30” club. Maybe a start-up could not fully fulfill what was expected of it. However, this is different from fraud.

First of all, it shows that such lists are primarily marketing tools aimed at the media and award winners.

Source :Blick